


Smart

by AlwayzHuman



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Ending-The Great Game, Episode: s01e03 The Great Game, John is sneaky, M/M, Smart!John, Supportive mom, secret genius, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-11
Packaged: 2019-05-21 01:03:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14905550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwayzHuman/pseuds/AlwayzHuman
Summary: John is a hidden genius.





	Smart

**Author's Note:**

> Got bored one night and this idea came to me so I wrote it. Only just decided to post it.

John Hamish Watson, army doctor, blogger, and friend has a secret. He was able to keep this secret from everyone, including William Sherlock Scott Holmes. This was not an easy task while he was growing up and it only became harder the moment he started living with the consulting detective. You see, John actually finished his medical degree in secret when he was thirteen. 

 

John was bullied by both his sister and father for being smarter than the normal kids. In fact, John could deduce people just as amazing as Sherlock at the age of ten, although he didn’t know about the science of deduction back then. With his mother’s help, John was able to hide his brilliance from his father and sister, making it seem as if he was just ahead of the class in that particular section of the lesson plan. John watched as his mother talked to the principal and his teacher over what to do next. In the end, they decided to give John books and homework that were high school and college level while he stayed in his fifth-grade classes. John finished high school and his prerequisite classes for college by the end of his first year of middle school. His used that summer to figure out what he wanted to study in college. 

 

It wasn’t until he watched his father beat his mother with drunken fists did he know what he wanted to be. When the school year started up again, John found himself learning everything he can about the medical field. John used all of his high school and college years learning about every different type of medical knowledge he could get his hands on. At the same time, he continued to play the clarinet, played rugby, and made friends. He found that most of the friends he made were boring and dull. Although, he did find his secret pleasure for hacking and computers due to one of his rugby mates. 

 

Then everything changed. His father died from alcohol poisoning and Harriet began drinking, leaving his mother to try to deal with the debt of school and alcohol consumption from his father and sister. John cared deeply for his mother, she was the only one to support his genius and decided to find a way to help his mother financially. That is how John H. Watson ended up in the army. While in the army, John was able to use his deductive skills to find hidden enemies and shoot them down. At the same time, he used his skills as a medical officer to patch up his teammates while still shooting the enemies coming at them. It was thrilling. John wasn’t sure he’s ever felt more alive. Then he got shot. Thankfully, he didn’t get shot until shortly after his mother was able to finish paying the debt. 

 

He thought he would never be able to feel such a thrill ever again. He still went to the mandatory therapy even though he knew she was an idiot. He knew his leg was psychosomatic but that didn’t help him fix his leg. He wanted to continue living in London but knew his army pension wouldn’t cover it for much longer. 

 

And then the most extraordinary thing happened. Mike Stamford introduced him to one Sherlock Holmes. With a single look, the doctor mentally noted that he frequently worked with the police, was an ex-addict to either heroin or cocaine, and has an overbearing sibling that he detests. John was speechless when Sherlock suddenly asked ‘Afghanistan or Iraq?’ John knew there was nothing on him that an ordinary person could spot that would tell anyone about his army history. He knew his comment about the room could be interpreted as either a former student or visitor that hasn’t visited in a while. John then stood speechless as he watched the only consulting detective leave the room with a wink. He barely heard Mike’s final comment on Sherlock Holmes. When John returned to his bedsit that afternoon, he decided to look up the consulting detective and found the website. John was amazed. There was no other word for it. 

 

From that moment on, even as he was swept up in the case, John made sure to be extra careful with Sherlock. He was amazed that someone other than himself could tell the sexual relationship between the head forensics and Sargent. John followed Sherlock inside and followed his orders just as any ordinary person would do. He even went so far as to play dumb and complement Sherlock’s brilliance aloud. John was annoyed when he went to leave and the Sargent just complained about Sherlock. He knew she was trying to keep him away from Sherlock because she didn’t like him. 

 

John then met Mycroft Holmes, although he made sure not to show that he knew who the man was. John was, however, a little frightened of Sherlock’s brother, even if he didn’t show it. He was afraid that the government man would know about his well-hidden genius. As the ‘conversation’ with Mycroft ended and he didn’t show any sign of knowing about John’s mental advancement, John gave a quiet sigh of relief and made a quick stop at his old bedsit to grab a few things before heading back to Baker Street. 

 

When John forgot his cane at Angelo’s, he couldn’t be more surprised. Sherlock brought the thrill back to life. Their glee was short lived as a distraught Mrs. Hudson came out to them and they had to deal with a fake drugs bust. John had to remind himself to act surprised about the whole ordeal. Next thing John knows he’s shooting a cabbie and running to the convenience store nearby to use their washroom. John quickly washes his hands and makes a slow walk to the college and waited outside the yellow tape for Sherlock. Despite washing his hands, Sherlock still knew that it was John who shot the cabbie. The two then met up with Mycroft before completely leaving the scene and John almost forgot to pretend that he didn’t know that they were brothers. 

 

And so, their adventures began and John made sure no one knew of his own deduction skills. 

 

That is…

 

Until Moriarty decided to finally show himself. 

 

John had been wanting to tell Sherlock about his own deductive skills since The Blind Banker case but there was too much going on. John didn’t want Sherlock to find out about it through his blog so he made sure to make the blog as ordinary as possible. Now, John is thankful that he hasn’t told Sherlock sooner. Knowing the same things as Sherlock without anyone else knowing turned out to be a great way to find an upper hand. John knew there was one last beep on the phone. John knew that if he left the house he would get kidnapped. John knew Sherlock didn’t know that he and Sarah mutually broke up. Before John left, he made sure to send an anonymous email to NSY, making sure to make it a priority email and giving them the approximate time and place. He also managed to use an old burner phone from when he had just gotten back from Afghanistan and texted Mycroft the same message just to ensure that they can arrest Moriarty. Just a precaution in case the Yard didn’t read the email in time. 

 

“I won’t be in for tea. I’m going to Sarah’s,” John lied flawlessly, knowing he was going to be kidnapped instead. “There’s still some of that risotto left in the fridge.” Sherlock only hums in acknowledgment. “Uh, milk. We need milk.”

 

“I’ll get some,” Sherlock answers distractedly. 

 

“Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

“And some beans?” John asked, raising an eyebrow. Sherlock only hummed again before John left. It was only a matter of minutes now. He was sure.

 

Sure enough, John saw a black van pull up just behind him just as he rounded the corner.  He only struggled a little bit as a bag was shoved over his head and he was pushed into the van. 

 

‘ _ How cliche, _ ’ John though as he felt them dressing him in a heavy vest ( _ bomb vest _ ) and a parka. He didn’t bother keeping track of where the van was going since he already knew where the final destination would be. When they finally stopped, the doctor was pulled out of the van and into the building. The hood wasn’t lifted from his face until he was just standing outside the pool. John allowed them to place the earpiece in his own ear, hearing light taps of sneaky feet from above. More snipers then, just as he suspected.  

 

“ **Hello~** ,” a male voice says in a singsong voice. 

 

‘ _ So this is Moriarty, _ ’ John thought. 

 

“ **Don’t worry, Johnny boy. We’re going to take good care of you while we wait for The Great Sherlock** ,” Moriarty explains. John barely listened, already knowing is most likely going to happen based on the other civilian bombers. John was left with only one guard while the other, a sniper most likely, left to take a position somewhere else. John noticed movement in the pool area before Sherlock’s voice rang through. “ **Showtime, Johnny boy** .”

 

Moriarty ordered John to walk through the door and the doctor watched as Sherlock’s eyes widened just a fraction as he repeated Moriarty’s words. Not wanting Sherlock to panic, John blinked SOS in Morse code before he was allowed to reveal the bomb strapped to his chest. A red dot from a sniper immediately locks onto the bomb, just over John’s heart. John continued to play the part of an ordinary person, allowing the two consulting geniuses to debate back and forth with each other. He continued to let them play their little game, just biding his time. John surveyed the area, noticing several snipers on the end that he was facing and already predicting at least one at the wall directly behind him. 

 

That’s when he noticed the extra movement behind the snipers in front of him. His attention was brought back to the two when a small plop was heard. Now was his moment. In a swift motion that Sherlock was barely able to see, John had put Moriarty in a headlock, making Sherlock back up a step. Knowing that neither had noticed the new help, John continued to play the role of protective friend. 

 

“Sherlock, run!” John shouts. He hears Jim laughing while still in the headlock. 

 

“Good!” Moriarty coos. “ _ Very _ good!” John saw Sherlock keep the gun trained on Moriarty’s head while looking for the hidden sniper. 

 

“If your sniper pulls that trigger, Mr. Moriarty, then we both go up,” John warns, not giving away the secret plan. 

 

“Isn’t he sweet? I can see why you like having him around. But then, people do get so sentimental about their pets,” Jim goads. John, wanting to finally reveal, pulls the consulting criminal closer, making sure to dig the bomb into his back and make it look like he wanted him to be quiet. “They’re so touchingly loyal. But,  _ oops _ !” Jim turns his head to grin at John. “You’ve rather shown your hand there, Doctor Watson.” Jim then looks to Sherlock just as a red dot leaps upon Sherlock’s forehead. John must have made a really convincing shocked expression because Sherlock started to shake his head ever so slightly. “Gotcha!” Moriarty cheers. 

 

“Try again,” John whispers, amusement in his voice. Hearing the amusement, Jim’s grin dropped a split second before every red dot disappeared. 

 

“What?!” Moriarty questions, not understanding what was going on. Before any more could be said, Lestrade came racing through the door to make sure everyone was okay before putting Moriarty in handcuffs. Mycroft came in shortly after and immediately walked over to his brother while another officer took the bomb off of John. Instead of his normal greeting, Mycroft hit his brother in the head with his umbrella. 

 

“What was that for?” Sherlock hisses as John unsuccessfully hides his smirk. 

 

“You’re lucky, brother mine,” Mycroft states in a scolding manner.

 

“I’d say,” Lestrade butts in. “Someone apparently knew about this whole set up and managed to send out a warning to both the NSY and Mycroft.”

 

“Yes,” Mycroft agreed, pursing his lips. “Although the email the NSY received was highly encrypted and it was obviously written by the same person who texted me from a burner phone.” Now even Sherlock was curious. 

 

“Who would know about any of this? Obviously not Moriarty’s men, they’ll be loyal to him just to stay in his good graces. Obviously, you and Scotland Yard didn’t know until you were informed of it via email and text.” Sherlock didn’t seem to have an answer to the question either. John quickly pushed down his smirk before anyone could see and wanted until it was time to go home. “Are you all right?” Sherlock asked as they sat in the cab, making their way home. 

 

“Yeah-yeah I’m fine,” John answers. “Are  _ you _ okay?” John asks. 

 

“Me?” Sherlock was a bit surprised that his blogger cared enough to ask. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Fine.” There was awkward silence for a minute before Sherlock spoke again. “That, er…  _ thing _ that you, er, that you did- that um…” Sherlock clears his throat, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. “... you offered to do. That was, um… good.” John just gave him a heartwarming smile and a quiet ‘you’re welcome’ before there was comfortable silence. Sort of. 

 

“You’re thinking too loud, Sherlock.” The consulting detective frowns at John’s smirk before explaining himself. 

 

“I just can’t figure out who sent Lestrade and Mycroft the warning,” Sherlock grumbles. John smiles at him some more but didn’t say anything about it. 

 

“Did you notice-”

 

“Probably.”

 

“That Lestrade and Mycroft seemed oddly close tonight?” John finished, ignoring Sherlock’s interruption. Sherlock blinked a few times before scrunching up his nose. 

 

“I think you’re just reading too much into it, John. Not everyone is a romantic.” John just shrugged. 

 

“Well, I remember Greg was wearing the tie Mycroft was wearing at the pool last night when we were having drinks,” John says nonchalantly. Sherlock stares at John for a minute before looking out the window. 

 

“It was probably too dim in the bar for you see properly,” Sherlock reasons. John just hums his disagreement. They’re quiet until the finally reach their flat. John immediately makes them tea while Sherlock flops onto the couch. 

 

The doctor soon comes in and places their tea on the coffee table before going to grab his laptop. The computer in hand, John moves Sherlock’s feet and sits down, resting his computer on Sherlock’s leg after they move back. Sherlock is about to go into his mind palace when the sound of furious typing catches his attention. His gaze quickly moves towards the source, which is towards his own feet and sees John typing away on his computer. His curiosity gets the best of him and he sits up to see what John is doing only to have his jaw drop. 

 

“Are you hacking into the CCTV cameras?!” Sherlock asks in almost a shout, not believing what he was seeing. 

 

“You tell me, consulting detective,” John teases, knowing Sherlock hates stating the obvious. 

 

“You sent the email and text to Mycroft and Lestrade.” Sherlock is now staring at John like he’s seeing him for the first time. 

 

“Ah! Here we go!” John cheers, ignoring Sherlock’s revelations. “I told you those two were together.” John swivels the laptop towards Sherlock, who slowly turned his gaze away from his flat. His jaw dropped again. John leaned forward to grab his tea and drink while Sherlock gaped at the screen. There, on the screen, was Mycroft and Lestrade standing outside of Lestrade’s apartment building.  _ Snogging.  _ Sherlock digs his phone out of his pocket and, with a few clicks, begins a call. John raised an eyebrow with curiosity as Sherlock turned the laptop so that they could both see the screen before putting the phone on speaker so John could hear too. 

 

John watched as Mycroft slowly pulled away from Greg before pulling out his phone. Mycroft had a confused look while Greg just glared at the device. Mycroft put the mobile to his ear just before John could hear his greeting on Sherlock’s phone. John immediately covered his mouth to keep from laughing, knowing exactly what his detective was up to. 

 

“Stop snogging in front of Lestrade’s door like a couple of bloody teenagers!” Sherlock roars, causing John to snort in his hands. The snort, in turn, caused Sherlock to grin at his blogger. The shocked look could be seen on Mycroft face as he turned to try to find his brother. “Can we move this?” Sherlock asked quietly, his brother barely hearing him. 

 

“Yeah, give me a minute to take down a few more firewalls,” John answered just as quietly. Mycroft still heard him. 

 

“What does John mean by ‘firewalls’?” Mycroft questions. His question was soon answered when he noticed one of the nearby cameras starting to move around. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Lestrade asked, concerned about the shocked expression. 

 

“John Watson just hacked a CCTV camera,” Mycroft explained, point to the moving camera. Greg’s jaw drops as he stares. Mycroft could hear snickering on the other side of the phone before it went dead. The government man flared at the camera for a few more seconds before following Greg inside. 

 

Meanwhile, John and Sherlock continued laughing at their juvenile fun. It took them several minutes and three tries to stop laughing. Every time one look at the other it started all over again. When they’ve finally calmed down enough, Sherlock moves John’s cup and laptop to the coffee table before flopping completely on top of John so his doctor couldn’t get away. 

 

“What else have you so sneakily hidden from me?” Sherlock asked, staring directly into the doctor’s eyes. 

 

“I’m the one who sent the email and text,” John starts. 

 

“We already established that. Next,” Sherlock says. John just smirked. 

 

He then started telling Sherlock about his time growing up. John still planned to hide his brilliance from everyone. Except for Sherlock. Cases became more fun with the two of them and they got into more trouble. Mycroft eventually came around to ask John about his hacking talent, which was useful in several cases. There are times where John will notice Lestrade is too busy to pay more attention to Mycroft and John has to hacking Mycroft’s computer to get the government official to stop being a prick. All in all, John was happy with his detective and Sherlock was happy with his blogger.

**Author's Note:**

> So apparently a lot of people like this short. So I'm thinking of turning it into a longer story. It would go into more detail than this short. Let me know what you think in the comments. Thank You!


End file.
